Background

Creation screen description

Once at home in the jungles of Stranglethorn Vale, the fierce trolls of the Darkspear tribe were besieged on all sides by the warring factions. The orcish Horde came to their aid, convincing the Darkspear to sail across the Great Sea and settle in the untamed lands of Kalimdor. Though they cling to their shadowy heritage, the Darkspear remain vocal advocates of a united Horde, lending the strength of their arms and powerful tribal magics to the common cause.

Classic opening cutscene

The vicious trolls that populate the numerous jungle isles of the South Seas, are renowned for their cruelty and dark mysticism. Barbarous and superstitious, they carry a seething hatred for all other races. Long since exiled from their ancestral homeland in Stranglethorn Vale, the Darkspear tribe was nearly destroyed by rampaging murlocs. Rescued by the young WarchiefThrall and his orcish warriors, the Darkspear tribe swore an allegiance to the Horde. Led by the cunning Shadow Hunter, Vol'jin, the Darkspears now make their home in Durotar along with their orcish allies. As one of the only surviving Darkspears, it falls to you to reclaim the glory of your tribe.

Cataclysm opening cutscene

Exiled years ago from their land in Stranglethorn Vale, the Darkspear trolls attempted to make a new home for themselves among the disparate races of the Horde. Under the leadership of the noble Warchief Thrall, Vol'jin and his savage trolls had finally found the honor and purpose they had been searching for but now, under the rule of the headstrong Garrosh Hellscream, the trolls fear that the Horde could tear itself apart. Vol'jin knows that whatever threats loom ahead, whether they be from within the Horde or from without, it is cunning trolls like you that will fight to preserve the honor of the Horde.

History

As tribal rivalries erupted throughout the former Gurubashi Empire, the Darkspear tribe found themselves driven from their homeland in Stranglethorn Vale. Having settled on the Darkspear islands, which are believed today to have been a part of the Broken Isles, the tribe soon found themselves entangled in a conflict with a group of murlocs. Eventually they also found new enemies in humans when a Kul Tiras-fleet landed on the island in search for some orcs who had stolen some ships. The trolls' fate seemed sealed until the orcish WarchiefThrall and his band of newly freed orcs, which were the orcs the humans were looking for, took shelter on the island after a heavy storm. The orcs managed to defeat the humans, but their victory was short-lived. Controlled by a Sea Witch, the Underworld Minions captured the Darkspears' leader Sen'jin along with Thrall and several orcs, trolls and humans. They were all brought to a complex prison made by caves below the island. Thrall managed to free himself and his companions, but was ultimately unable to save the trolls' leader. Although Sen'jin was sacrificed to the Sea Witch, he was able to reveal a vision he had in which Thrall would lead the Darkspear trolls from the island.

After returning to the island's surface, Thrall and his followers managed to fend off further attacks by the Sea Witch and her murloc minions, and set sail for Kalimdor once again. Under the new leadership of Vol'jin, the Darkspear swore allegiance to Thrall's Horde and followed him to Kalimdor. Now considered enemies by all other troll organizations except the Revantusk, Shatterspear, and the Zandalari, the Darkspear are held in contempt to this day. Yet, the Darkspear have not forgotten being driven from their ancestral homes, and this animosity is eagerly returned - especially towards the other jungle trolls. Having reached and founded the orc's new homeland, Durotar, the trolls carved out another home for themselves — this time among the Echo Isles on the eastern shores of the new orc kingdom.

However, with another approach by Kul Tiras and its navy, the Darkspear were forced to retreat inland under the onslaught of the misguided commander Daelin Proudmoore. The trolls, fighting alongside their Horde brethren led by the beastmasterRexxar, defeated the enemy and reclaimed their new home. Shortly thereafter, a witch doctor by the name of Zalazane began using dark magic to take the minds of his fellow Darkspear. As his army of mindless followers grew, Vol'jin ordered the free trolls to evacuate, and Zalazane took control of the Echo Isles. The Darkspear have since settled on the nearby shore, naming their new village after their old leader, Sen'jin. From Sen'jin Village they, along with their allies, send forces to battle Zalazane and his enslaved army.[1]

The Darkspears’ efforts, however, failed to drive Zalazane from the Echo Isles. Following the victory against the Lich King in the frozen continent of Northrend, Vol’jin renewed his bid to defeat Zalazane and launched a brilliant assault on the isles. With the help of the tribe’s ancestral loa, the courageous Darkspears killed the maddened witch doctor and seized their embattled home. Of late, political changes within the Horde have sparked fears among the Darkspear tribe regarding its future. Vol’jin’s close ally Thrall recently named Garrosh Hellscream temporary Horde warchief. Thus far, the brash young orc has put the Darkspear leader and his tribe on edge, causing many trolls to leave the Horde capital, Orgrimmar. Although spirits are high among the Darkspears after Zalazane’s Fall, tension lingers concerning what place the trolls will have in Garrosh’s Horde.[2]

Appearance

Troll Berserkers fighting

Darkspear trolls have skin colors that range from pale, ghostly blue to bruised purple to sickly green. Their skin color is usually just one of those three colors, although sometimes there are trolls with mixed skin pigments but this is not so common. Trolls' hair is usually brightly coloured, ranging from vibrant purple to deep green. Hair is usually grown long by both males and females, and often styled in a striking arrangement. Trolls have large, long ears often pierced with rings, and long, pointed noises, with both of these feature more pronounced in males. Male trolls are extremely tall, but tend to stand hunched over, hiding their true height, and are of a lithe and slender build, with long limbs and faces. They have long, protruding tusks that grow from under their lower lip, large noses and long ears not unlike those of night elves. Female trolls, while far shorter, stand up straight and erect, possess far smaller and shorter tusks, and usually have hair in a wild updo or strewn across their breasts in thick braids.

Reasons for racial traits

When fighting, trolls are often driven by instinct to a state of [Berserking], causing them to attack and cast spells more quickly. This is the iconic ability of Troll Berserkers.

Though usually exaggerated in tales, trolls' powers of [Regeneration] are still very strong. Provided a wound doesn't kill them outright, they can usually recover from it with little to no medical attention.

Trolls are excellent hunters and have developed skills in [Beast Slaying] over thousands of years. This has made bows and throwing weapons the iconic arms of the troll race, and has led to troll headhunters being one of the main forms of ranged support for the Horde.

Trolls' natural agility allows them to escape impediments to their mobility a bit more quickly than other races. The movements to do so resemble dancing and the trolls have termed them '[Da Voodoo Shuffle]'.

Trivia

The troll and gnome are the only original races which did not appear in first World of Warcraft cinematic, but the trolls are the main protagonist of a content patch trailer. It was not until the cinematic for The Burning Crusade expansion that a troll is briefly seen. (Gnome still has yet to make an appearance in any cinematic.)

Female trolls don't blink (excluding Death Knights in which case their glowing eyes flicker). This is almost certainly a bug as male trolls blink. This was corrected with the new models introduced in Warlords of Draenor.

The troll player model appears to have been based off the Shadow Hunter from Warcraft III. Like the playable trolls in WoW, the Shadow hunter was also lithely muscular, lanky and crouched but was even taller than the Tauren Chieftain when standing up straight.

The revamped Troll male model went live in an unfinished state, with several issues including but not limited to an unanimated hairstyle, geometry flaws and comparatively low-detail textures having remained since its first playable appearance in Warlords of Draenor's beta.

Despite having a major role in the Warcraft III Horde, trolls were made playable late in the development of WoW. This is probably why they have had mostly a minor role in the game and why their capital shrunk and was lost to Zalazane.

When approached or attacked by members of the Alliance, both orc and troll NPCs say: "[Orcish]: Grunts! Attack!"; causing additional guards for that town or city to summon in aid of that NPC. Troll and orc NPCs are the only two races that share a common language when making such calls-to-arms, reflecting their close loyalty and friendship.

One of the random jokes that players of the troll race can say is "New troll here", which is an allusion to Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. Whenever a troll axethrower or troll berserker was created, they would say "New troll here!" to announce that the unit is ready.

Because jungle trolls have a thin layer of fur and forest trolls are covered in moss, the true skin color of trolls is a mystery.

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